Waving Pakistani flag not new in Kashmir: NC leader

Srinagar, May 2 (IANS) The waving of the Pakistani flag during separatist rallies in Jammu and Kashmir was not a new thing and had also happened in the past, a National Conference leader and former minister said here on Saturday.

"Here (Jammu and Kashmir), there are some supporters of Pakistan, some support Azadi (independence) and some prefer India. This goes on. However, if the law has been violated, it is the job of the government to look into it," NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said during a protest rally here against the state government’s new recruitment policy.

At a separatist rally led by hardline leader Masrat Alam in Srinagar on April 15, youth had waved Pakistani flags and shouted pro-Pakistan slogans. Alam was arrested on April 17 for sedition and waging war against the state.

On the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, Sagar, who was rural development minister in the previous Omar Abdullah government, said that during the NC-Congress coalition government, nearly 3,000 Kashmiri Pandits were adjusted in Kashmir under various employment schemes.

"We tried our best and they (Kashmiri Pandits) have every right to return to their land. But we will oppose the RSS agenda of creating separate colonies for them," he said, referring to recent news that the government was proposing the creation of a separate township for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.